performance
management

Managing performance requires us to
reconcile caring for and developing our people with ensuring that
departmental and organisational aims are achieved. Managing performance
requires us to strike a balance between compassion and
accountability.

Good modern managers strive to
balance these two areas according to the situations in which performance needs
managing. This involves judging each different situation on merit and deciding
a course of action and management style that is right for the situation.

For instance, we need to be caring
and compassionate if, for example, an employee needs help and encouragement to
get through difficulties or challenges. On the other hand we need to focus on
accountability responsibility where, for example, matters of health and safety
or essential processes or policies are concerned.

Being able to assess situations and
adapt our management response is vital to managing people. If we manage people
well, we manage performance well too.

It's important to recognise a
fundamental fact: that everyone is capable of exceptional effort, productivity,
output, and performance. There is actually no such thing as a person who is in
themselves a 'poor performer'. Where people fail to perform in any respect it
is generally because of poor management or a flawed organisation.

Understanding this - that everyone
is potentially a great performer - is a key to being a great manager of people
and performance. Recognising and accepting this principle helps us to focus on
helping people to find positive solutions, rather than focusing blame,
criticism and recrimination, the traditional resorts of old-style autocratic or
incompetent management and organisations.

Sumantra Ghoshal (1948-2004), the
humanist management writer and academic, who believed that management should be
above all else a force for good, got it right when he said:

"A very different philosophy of
management is arising. We are moving beyond strategy to purpose; beyond
structure to process, and beyond systems to people.... Asshole management is
not inevitable."

Performance management is about
people. It's not about systems or processes or rules or computer
systems. It's about people.

Getting the best out of people is
not rocket science - it's mostly about helping people to do a great
job.

A big part of what people need from
their managers is a clear understanding of what is expected - in other
words - explanation and clarification and agreement of performance
expectations.

A second big part of what people
need from their managers is help in meeting these standards and
expectations - which logically requires the manager to first find out
what help they need, because it's different for everyone, and if you don't
ask then you won't know. So why guess? Ask people what they
need.

A huge proportion of performance
problems can be traced back simply to a failure to explain and agree
expectations and/or a failure to understand and provide the help that
the person needs. These are the responsibilities of the manager - not the
employee. Don't assume everything is understood and perfectly within people's
capabilities. Instead, take time to explain, check and ask until everyone
concerned is happy and sure of what needs doing, why, and how.

Expectations need explaining and
agreeing for all aspects of the employee's responsibility and performance -
from the most basic standards, to the most open-ended freedoms - yes even
freedom is an 'expectation' that must be explained, understood and
agreed.

Different aspects of performance,
and different tasks and responsibilities, of course need treating in different
ways, as do people according to their different levels of experience,
knowledge, capability, capacity and confidence.

Usually the aspects of performance
that place the biggest demands on managers, and create the biggest challenges
and problems, are those areas concerned with a 'failure' to perform to a
certain standard or target or other requirement. Performance above standard
rarely creates a management headache. It makes sense therefore to look first at
managing performance at the level of basic standards and
responsibilities.

And just a quick note about
performance appraisals and where they fit into performane management: Attending
to below-standard performance needs to be handled at the time - do not wait to
spring it on people several months later at the dreaded performance appraisal.
Make sure you never allow a situation to develop where one of your people could
turn round to you and say, "I wish you'd told me at the time - if I'd known
about it then I'd have sorted it out..."

Many people need to know how that
are doing every day - ask them what will help them most. Most people
need feedback at least once a week. A few can get by with feedback once a
month, but even for seriously capable high-level strategic people this is a
starvation diet. Be mindful - performance management more than just a once a
year process - it's a continuous activity.

basic responsibilities and
standards of performance

Certain expectations of performance
are mandatory standards that are (or should be) effectively written into
employment contracts, or at least referred to in appropriate operational
procedures. Such expectations and standards form part of the 'psychological
contract' that exists between employer and employee. Other less firm
responsibilities and activities (for instance optional developmental
opportunities) of course often also form a part of the 'psychological
contract', but basic standards and job requirements are generally
non-negotiable.

You must know what these things are,
and you must have a clear commitment from your people that these are 'given's,
because we've all got better things to do than fart around sorting out stuff
that one might expect to come across in the primary school playground, but not
at grown-up work.

In other words, management is
challenging enough without having to spend time on things that form part of
people's basic contract and published standards for doing the job. By
implication, this aspect of performance should manage itself.

So, what if performance needs
managing in this area?

If performance falls short in this
area you must revisit the 'psychological contract' and probably the actual
employment contract too, so as to clarify basic and non-negotiable expectations
as quickly and simply as possible.

But be compassionate and caring. Be
creative about the way you handle below-standard performance. Non-negotiable
does not mean ruthless or uncaring. Be sensitive. Be firm but be
fair.

1. Are the performance standards
agreed and written down?

If not, ensure they are and go
through the process of reaffirming them, otherwise you'll be building on sand.
If necessary seek input from the department responsible for employment
contracts (usually HR), or if the standards in question are contained within an
operations procedure or manual, refer to the department which owns that
responsibility, for example health and safety, or quality.

2. Are the standards and
expectations understood properly?

Explain them and seek confirmation
of understanding and agreement. 'Understanding' extends beyond the written word
or description of the standard - it is a matter of checking people's
interpretation - what it means to them. Check that their interpretation meets
the expectation or standard in practice and application and spirit.

3. Are the standards agreed?

If not this is effectively a matter
of discipline, and you should begin the disciplinary process because you've got
a problem here with the basic 'contract' between employee and employer, and you
should immediately inform whatever senior people need to know this.
Disagreement in this area amounts to defiance and rejection of the 'contract'
between employer and employee and needs dealing with firmly and clearly, in
accordance with disciplinary processes laid down by the employer, which must be
within applicable employment law. This all assumes that the standards concerned
do actually form part of the employee's formal 'contract'. If not then the
manager and if necessary representative from HR department must revisit,
redefine and agree the 'contract' with the employee to find out whether the
issue is a matter of discipline or education or re-negotiation - so watch out
for these situations. Warning signs are for instance when an employee says,
"No-one ever told me I had to do this," or "Show me where it says that I can't
do (X, Y Z..)". Sometimes people are genuinely under false impressions and
simply need pointing to the appropriate written standard somewhere. Other times
people can be testing the system. And at worst people can be actually
rebelling. The manager's responsibility is to identify the root reason that's
causing the person to ignore or flout the standards, and then to deal with it
appropriately.

4. Are the standards agreed, but
there's some other reason why they are not being met?

Where there's no confusion about the
standard or expectation that is not being met you must sit down with the person
and ask them what's happening that's making it difficult for them to meet the
standards. And then go from there. You must judge the situation on merit and
with sensitivity and if necessary seek input from an appropriate person in the
HR department, who will be better able to advise as regards professional
counselling, or any other support the employee needs in order to resolve the
difficulties. It's generally a matter for HR also to decide on any special
arrangements or dispensations, mindful of the circumstances. The duty of the
line manager in these situations is generally to identify what the problem is,
whether the person wants to resolve it, and to facilitate help or a solution.
Managing performance that is below 'contracted' standard starts with
identifying the actual root cause, so as to be able to take appropriate action,
firmly, professionally, creatively and compassionately.

a story about managing basic
performance standards..

A school head was alerted by the
caretaker to a persistent problem in the girls lavatories: some of the girl
students were leaving lipstick kisses on the mirrors. The caretaker had left
notices on the toilet walls asking for the practice to cease, but to no avail;
every evening the caretaker would wipe away the kisses, and the next day lots
more kisses would be planted on the mirror. It had become a bit of a game. The
head teacher usually took a creative approach to problem solving, and so the
next day she asked a few girl representatives from each class to meet with her
in the lavatory. "Thank you for coming," said the head, "You will see there are
several lipstick kisses in the mirrors in this washroom.." Some of the girls
grinned at each other as the head teacher continued: "As you will understand,
modern lipstick is cleverly designed to stay on the lips, and so the lipstick
is not easy at all to clean from the mirrors. We have therefore had to develop
a special cleaning regime, and my hope is that when you see the effort involved
you will help spread the word that we'd all be better off if those responsible
for the kisses use tissue paper instead of the mirrors in future.." At this
point the caretaker stepped forward with a sponge squeegee, which he took into
one of the toilet cubicles, dipped into the toilet bowl, and then used to clean
one of the lipstick-covered mirrors. The caretaker smiled. The girls departed.
And there were no more lipstick kisses on the mirrors.

performance -
tasks, projects and development of opportunities

Now we come to the more
forward-looking aspects of performance:

How well the work is done - by
individuals and by teams; the quality of service above and beyond minimum
expectations; the reaction to challenge and opportunity. Great performance in
these areas is managed and achieved by involving the individuals and the team
in contributing as much as they can towards:

defining the task or opportunity

deciding the methods, or for
larger projects, creating the project plan

people's styles and natural
leanings (again, use whatever personality indicators are available to you - see
for example the VAK
learning styles theory and test - also, ask people)

people's experience and maturity
(ask them)

people's confidence (ask them)

people's workloads and other
priorities and demands on them (ask them)

people's alignment with the
purpose and spirit of the task - does it mean something to them? (ask them)

what people will get out of
doing the task or their part of it? Again, what does it mean to them in terms
of their own personal development and aims and needs? (ask them)

You get the idea - where you do not
know any of the above - and in many cases you will not even have a clue - you
must ask people. And where you need to seek clarification or evidence of
competence or experience, then do so - it's all part of creating clearly
understood expectations and freedom and support required.

At all times you are balancing - and
helping your people to balance:

the needs of the organisation to
perform the task or project on time, to standard, and within budget

with:

the needs of the people to enjoy,
grow, learn and take maximum responsibility for performing the task or running
the project

If you involve people and teams in
arriving at this balance, and agreeing your own level of involvement (which
will vary for each task and project) then this will help you to manage
performance more effectively.

Essential within this process is:

establishing and publishing (to
all who need to know) the task or project purpose and criteria including
outcomes, deliverables, parameters (including financials) and timescales

a plan of what happens and when

actions and responsibilities -
clear accountabilities - ideally never shared or falling between two stools

measures and monitoring
actions

To provide the above for repeating
tasks you should produce or use a standard procedure or standing protocol -
rather than keep reinventing the wheel. Operations manuals would normally
contain a lot of this, but in this fast-changing world, lots of content in
operations manuals is out of date, and lots of standard instructions are in
need of changing, so ensure all operational protocols and standing methods are
checked and updated accordingly.

Here an analogy which reinforces the
point that we need constantly to question and refine the ways we do things,
because performance is a feature of culture and behaviour as well as process.

a story about performance policy
and process

Start with a cage containing five
monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs
under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb
towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys
with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same
result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another
monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it
with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.
To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another
attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be
assaulted. Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it
with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous
newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. Again, replace a third
original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is
attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they
were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the
beating of the newest monkey. After replacing the fourth and fifth original
monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been
replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs. Why not?
Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around
here.

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